Iggy’s Ravens Report – November 21, 2012
News & Commentary
News and Personal Thoughts:
In a surprise move, bucking 60 years of history, Maryland announced that they will be moving to the Big 10 for the 2014. This will be beneficial for Football Basketball, Baseball and Soccer, but detrimental to Lacrosse. The Big 10 will reported pay the $51M ACC separation fee, and Maryland stands to make $24.7M in broadcasting revenues (as opposed to the ACC’s $17M), with an anticipated increase to somewhere in the mid-$40M within 5 years. Lacrosse will suffer, no longer belong to the ACC. The Big 10 has no organized lacrosse league with only a handful of schools fielding teams, insufficient to hold a conference tournament and well short of the requirements to establish an automatic NCAA bid. Maryland could join an associate league, like the ECAC (Loyola) in Men’s lacrosse, or just play independent. Most notably, Maryland may suffer on the recruiting front without their ACC alliance with perennial powerhouses such as Duke, Virgina, and North Carolina. And, of course, leaving ACC buys local law enforcement about 10 years of riot-free route 1 traffic, without the twice a years Duke basketball games!
Ravens:
The Ravens did not win on Sunday night as much as pittsburgh gave the game away. The stealers failed to run the ball, left in an obviously injured Leftwich, failed to manage the clock, and lost the turnover battle. The Ravens, on the other hand, failed to produce any semblance of offense. Granted pittsburgh has the number 1 ranked D in the NFL, we still had no game plan AGAIN. The stealers made our defense look good. An injured 2nd string QB was rather ineffective, and the return of Suggs had the stealer O-line so confused, they didn’t know how to stop Kruger from breaking free. That pressure covered for the holes in the secondary, although the reserve players covered the field well. This week, the Ravens will need to do more against a better offensive team that isn’t running around like a chicken with it’s head chopped, as pittsburgh was doing on Sunday. Rivers will dissect us given the chance, and these west coast trips also seem to revive the twilight zone (No, not the cheesy teenage vampire books/flicks… we’re talking the realm where anything can happen.)
Orioles:
Still relatively quiet, the Orioles traded Andino for a 25 year OF who is out of minor league options. The hope is that he can turn the corner and provide bench depth and power at the plate, which he has demonstrated in the minor leagues, but failed to exhibit in 90 games this past season.
Alouettes
The Als blew a half time lead, allowing 14 unanswered 3rd quarter points en route to a 27-20 loss to Toronto. The Argos will face Calgary, who took out Western Conference top seed BC at BC Place, 34-29.
Blast:
The Blast improved to 5-0, beating Milwaukee 15-4, and Rochester 17-11 last weekend. This weekend, they hit the road for games at Wichita and Missouri.
Chesapeake Bayhawks: (Home games at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium)
Nothing to Report.
Charm:
The Charm will open the 2013 season at Jacksonville on May 25.
Capitals (See website for more details):
No progress has been made and no future meetings have been planned. The owners were not accepting of the latest offer from the players.
Wizards (See website for more details):
The Wizards are now 0-9 with no signs of fixing anything.
Mystics (See website for more details):
Nothing to report.
D.C.United (See website for more details):
United (18-11-10) tied Houston on Sunday, but failed to advance as Houston wins the 2 game aggregate series, 4-2. Houston plays LA for the MLS Cup.
What do you want to see in the Ravens report? What should be scrapped? Actually, never mind. No one is reading this anyway so you probably won’t know the difference. Send an email to iggy at tealdragon.net. Thanks!
Schedule
| 2012 Preseason | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date | Opponent | Time | Result | |
| Thursday, August 9, 2012 | @Atlanta Falcons | 7:30 PM | W 31-17 | |
| Friday, August 17, 2012 | Detroit Lions | 8:00 PM | L 27-12 | |
| Thursday, August 23, 2012 | Jacksonville Jaguars | 7:30 PM | W 48-17 | |
| Thursday, August 30, 2012 | @Saint Louis Rams | 8:00 PM | L 31-17 | |
| 2012 Regular Season | ||||
| Date | Opponent | Record | Time | Result |
| Monday, September 10, 2012 | Cincinnati Bengals | 18-14 Overall, 11-6 Home | 7:00 PM | W 44-13 |
| Sunday, September 16, 2012 | @Philadelphia Eagles | 1-1-1 Overall, 1-0-1 Away | 1:00 PM | L 24-23 |
| Sunday, September 23, 2012 | New England Patriots | 1-7 Overall, 0-2 Home | 8:20 PM | W 31-30 |
| Thursday, September 27, 2012 | Cleveland Browns | 19-7 Overall, 10-3 Home | 8:20 PM | W 23-16 |
| Sunday, October 7, 2012 | @Kansas City Chiefs | 3-3 Overall, 2-0 Away | 1:00 PM | W 9-6 |
| Sunday, October 14, 2012 | Dallas Cowboys | 3-0 Overall, 2-0 Home | 1:00 PM | W 31-29 |
| Sunday, October 21, 2012 | @Houston Texans | 6-0 Overall, 3-0 Away | 1:00 PM | L 43-13 |
| Sunday, November 4, 2012 | @Cleveland Browns | 19-7 Overall, 9-4 Away | 1:00 PM | W 25-15 |
| Sunday, November 11, 2012 | Oakland Raiders | 6-1 Overall, 4-0 Home | 1:00 PM | W 55-20 |
| Sunday, November 18, 2012 | @pittsburgh steelers | 14-21 Overall, 6-12 Away | 8:20 PM | W 13-10 |
| Sunday, November 25, 2012 | @San Diego Chargers | 4-4 Overall, 2-4 Away | 4:05 PM | |
| Sunday, December 2, 2012 | pittsburgh steelers | 15-21 Overall, 8-9 Home | 4:25 PM | |
| Sunday, December 9, 2012 | @Washington Redskins | 3-1 Overall, 2-1 Away | 1:00 PM | |
| Sunday, December 16, 2012 | Denver Broncos | 6-3 Overall, 5-0 Home | 1:00 PM | |
| Sunday, December 23, 2012 | New York Giants | 3-1 Overall, 1-0 Home | 1:00 PM | |
| Sunday, January 30, 2012 | @Cincinnati Bengals | 18-14 Overall, 7-9 Away | 1:00 PM | |
Relevant Football Links
- NFL: Tie Breaking Procedures
- Johnny Road Trip NFL Schedules 2010-2017
- PrintYourBrackets.com Good source of printable team schedules
- NFL Rule Book
Iggy’s Predictions
- Week 11:
- Miami (+1.5) over Buffalo. Don’t care if this is in Buffalo, Miami will rebound from last week’s debacle. Miami is falling apart.
- Green Bay over Detroit (+3.5). Rogers is back, and Detroit still stinks. In a game much closer than I expected, GB wins by 4
- Falcons over Arizona (+9.5), but take the points. Atlanta hasn’t really blown out anyone this season. As much as Atlanta tried to give it away, the Cards still found a way to lose.
- Tampa over Carolina (+1.5). In Carolina gave me pause, but Tampa has consistently done better and 1.5 points is not enough to sway me. It took a late surge plus OT, but Tampa got it done.
- Dallas over Cleveland (+7.5), but take the points. Cleveland is turning a corner, but what lies ahead remains to be seen. Cleveland should have won in regulation.
- Washington over Philadelphia (+3.5). Philly in a world of hurt. Washington made philly look silly.
- Rams over Jets (+3.5). Greatest show on Turf? Not this year, but Jets may make them look that way. Jets are highly unpredictable
- Cincinnati over KC (+3.5). KC kills themselves, and their opponents clean up the scraps. Easily done. KC only gets a pair of FGs
- Houston over Jax (+15.5). Houston won by 20 in Jax earlier this season. At home… this could get real ugly. WTF? OT? Houston, you’re killing me!
- Saints over Raiders (+4.5). I usually favor the West Coast team in this kind of matchup, but I saw Oakland play last weekend. Raider fell into their own black hole, I think.
- Pats over Colts (+9.5), but take the points. Colts are 4-2 as the underdog this season, and Pats aren’t invincible. Was a good game first half, then Belichick was himself once again.
- Denver over SD (+7.5), but take the points. Gut-shot pick of the week. Rivers mounts late comeback, but too little, too late.
- stealers over Ravens (+3.5), but take the points. This is almost always a dangerously close game, and this will be no different. I made that prediction before I knew about the QB situation.
- Niners over Bears (+4.5), but take the points. Tough call, and SF can really capitalize on a weak Bears Offense. Flip a coin for the ATS pick, but straight up, it’s all SF. SF’s backup QB is most certainly better than Chicago’s backup QB.
- This Week:: 11-3 Straight Up, and 9-5 Against the Spread
- Season:: 103-57 Straight Up, and 83-77 Against the Spread
- Week 12
- Houston over Detroit (+3.5). Eat early. The turkey will be better than this game.
- Skins (+3.5) over Dallas. Dallas is in Chaos while RG3 is bucking for some kind of rookie award (which he won’t get)
- Pats over Jets (+6.5). Patriots are on a war path.
- Jax (+2.5) over Tennessee. Both teams are struggling for an identity, but Jax has covered the spread 4 time this season.
- Colts over Bills (+3.5). Colts have Luck on their side.
- Cleveland over stealers (+0.5). Virtual toss up, but Cleveland will find a way to win at home against Charlie Batch.
- Denver over KC (+10.5). Blow out of the week.
- Miami (+2.5) over Seattle. Fins at home.
- Tampa (+0.5) over Atlanta. Atlanta is looking very shaky lately.
- Chicago over Minnesota (+0.5). Bear D to dominate at home against Vikings.
- Cincinnati over Oakland (+7.5). Bengals are peeking in the playoff picture while Oakland is looking at college draft options already.
- San Diego (+0.5) over Baltimore. We suck on trips to the West Coast… and the East Coast… and…
- Rams (+2.5) over Zona. Cards to start a backup QB while St. Louis is 6-3 as the underdog, and 2-0-1 in the division.
- Saints (+1.5) over SF. Saints are creeping back in to the playoff picture, while Harbs has lit his own QB controversy.
- Packers (+2.5) over Giants. Giants are lost right now.
- Panthers (+2.5) over Philly. Philly is in worse shape than the Panthers right now. Eat left over turkey, it will help you sleep through this game.
- MLS
- Knockout Round (1-1)
- Conference Semifinals (1-3)
- Conference Finals (1-1)
- Houston over DC. Houston won 2 of 3 regular season matchups, and despite their 5th seed in the playoffs, they are the hottest team right now. As was in the regular season, continue to be here.
- Seattle over LA. Seattle also won 2 of 3 regular season matchups. LA reverses trend and tops Seattle
- MLS Cup
- Houston over LA. Houston won the regular season matchup 2-1, and they are the hottest team in the playoffs, after sneaking in with the last seed.
Please send comments to Iggy at tealdragon.net
I know I’m only one of two people reading this report but I still love them! ‘twilight zone’? ‘Philly look silly’? Too much! Today I also learned the ‘miracle of the scrolling mouse’ and actually scrolled down to your predictions. Good God. You’re better than the DanBoomerBillShannon team combined. Also, thanks for the math lesson in order to post this. If you’re reading this I guess I AM smarter than a 5th grader…
Actually, more people than that tend to read these as I’ve been posting them on various other Ravens sites.